Elijah Confronts Ahab's Crime

Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for today. We thank you for a chance to be in your word that instructs us and teaches us how to live our lives. Thank you for the beauty and glory of your name and how it portrays to us all of who you are and what you've done. Tonight, Lord, help us to understand your character even more as we read once again about Elijah and how he deals with the people before him. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 1 Kings chapter 21. 1 Kings chapter 21. Elijah confronts Ahab's crime.

Elijah's back on the scene. It's been a while. He's back from his sojourn in the wilderness. We're not sure how long it's been since he was on Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. And God would speak to him and ask him, what are you doing here, Elijah? And Elijah would try to defend himself, but God would reinstate him and use him. But he would use him differently than he's used him before. We don't know exactly how long it's been, somewhere between two and five years. How do we know that? We know that because when you pick up the scene in 1 Kings 21, there's a man with the vineyard and the vineyard is flourishing.

Would there have been three and a half years of drought? And so it would take a while for that vineyard to get up and running again and be flourishing and be the kind of vineyard that Ahab himself would eventually want to have. Okay. On top of that, 1 Kings 20 tells us that there were several wars between Syria and Israel that lasted the span of around two years. When you read 1 Kings 22, there are three years of rest between the last war in 1 Kings 20 and 1 Kings 22. So somewhere between two and five years, 1 Kings 21 happens.

So what has Elijah been doing for the last two to five years? We don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us. It didn't take him five years to get from the mountain of God back to Jezreel. We know that, but what's he been doing? The Bible does not tell us what he's been doing, but God brings him back on the scene. God is going to use him once again. And God is going to use him to confront Ahab and his wickedness along with Jezebel because they have led the nation continually in the depths of sin. And God now is going to step in and do something drastic.

And therefore he brings Ahab, I mean, Elijah back on the scene to confront the crimes of Ahab. Let's read the narrative in 1 Kings 21, and then we'll spend some time talking to you about it. Now, it came about after these things at Naboth, the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. Ahab spoke to Naboth saying, give me your vineyard that I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house. And I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place.

If you like, I will give you the price of it in money. But Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers. So Ahab came into his house sullen and vexed because of the word which Naboth, the Jezreelite had spoken to him. For he said, I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers. And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and ate no food. That's quite a king right there, boy. But Jezebel, his wife came to him and said to him, how is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating food?

So he said to her, because I spoke to Naboth, the Jezreelite and said to him, give me your vineyard for money, or else if it pleases you, I will give you a vineyard in his place. But he said, I will not give you my vineyard. Jezebel, his wife said to him, do you now reign over Israel? Arise, eat bread and let your heart be joyful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal and sent letters to the elders and to the nobles who were living with Naboth in a city.

Now she wrote in the letters saying, proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people and seat two worthless men before him and let them testify against him saying, you cursed God and the king, then take him out and stone him to death. So the men of a city, the elders and the nobles who lived in the city did as Jezebel had sent word to them, just as it was written in the letters, which she had sent them. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the people. Then the two worthless men came in, sat before him and the worthless men testified against him saying against Naboth before the people saying Naboth cursed God and the king.

So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. Then they sent word to Jezebel saying, Naboth has been stoned and is dead. When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money for Naboth is not alive, but dead. When Naboth, oh, excuse me, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezreelite to take possession of it.

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah, the Tishbite saying, arise, go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who was in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, which he has gone down to take possession of it. You shall speak to him saying, thus says the Lord, have you murdered and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him saying, thus says the Lord, in the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours. Ahab said to Elijah, have you found me, oh, my enemy?

And he answered, I have found you because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon you and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free in Israel. And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Naboth, like the house of Basha, the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger and because you have made Israel sin. Of Jezebel also has the Lord spoken saying, the dogs will eat Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.

The one belonging to Ahab who dies in the city, the dogs will eat. And the one who dies in the field, the birds of heaven will eat. Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord because Jezebel his wife incited him. He acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the sons of Israel. It came about when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted. And he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently.

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite saying, do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son's days. Thus you have a story about Ahab, Jezebel, Naboth, Elijah, and how the Lord does what only he can do. Let's begin by looking at Ahab's proposition. Ahab has not been in war for a while. He has been looking out his window and he covets another man's vineyard.

It's a beautiful vineyard. It has grown lush, it's green, and he wants it. He's the king of Israel. He wants Naboth's vineyard. And so he goes to Naboth and says, hey, how about you give me your vineyard and I will give you another vineyard in its place, or I will give you money to buy your vineyard from you. And Naboth never hesitates. He says, no, for the Lord forbids it. The Lord forbids it because in the book of Numbers, as well as the book of Leviticus, God said, you can't give your family inheritance away.

Naboth is one of those 7,000 that God told Ahab, I assume he told Elijah, would not bow to Baal. We talked about it last week when God told Elijah that he was to anoint the king of Syria. He was anoint the king of Israel. He was to find Elisha and he would be a successor and God will reserve a remnant for himself. The number would be 7,000. I believe that Naboth is one of those 7,000 because he had not bowed his knee to Baal. In fact, the king came and said to him, I will give you money for your vineyard.

Now think about that for a moment. This is a huge temptation. This is a monumental temptation. It wasn't like his neighbor came to him and said, hey, you know what? Let's trade vineyards. I'll give you mine and I'll take yours or I'll give you another one or I'll pay you for the vineyard. This is the king of Israel. He will have the best at his disposal. And so the king of Israel comes. It's like the president of the United States coming to you and says, hey, I want to buy your house. I want your house.

I don't like the white house anymore. I want your house. So how about we switch houses or how about this? If you don't want to switch house with me and move to Washington DC, how about I just buy your house and I'll give you even more money than you can ever imagine. You'd probably say yes, but not Naboth. He says, no, can't do it because the Lord forbids it. Do you understand that Naboth would not compromise the word of the Lord, even though it would benefit him financially? He would not back down.

He would not compromise. He knew what God's word said. And because he did, he obeyed the word of the Lord. This is a man of supreme integrity. When the money is on the table and it's more than he could ever imagine, he turns it down because the Bible says you can't do that.

This is a man that needs to be a model for every man because he will not compromise the word of God. God's word would guide him. God's word would be the governing factor in every decision that he made. He was able to overcome temptation because he knew the word of the Lord. You got to think about this. The king of Israel comes and offers you money. The king of Israel comes and offers you another vineyard. The king of Israel is asking you to give up what you have for his benefit. And you say no, because of what God's word says.

That is a powerful testimony. This man lives by conviction. He has conviction because he knows the commandments of the Lord. And because he knows the commandments of the Lord, he says in his own soul, I will not bow to the covetous acts of another man. I am going to stay true to the word of the Lord. This becomes a model for every man, for every woman to realize you can never compromise. Now Naboth does not know what's going to happen next. He has no idea. I don't think if he knew that he would die, he would compromise.

I still think he would still stay true to the word of the Lord. The Bible tells us that his sons also are stoned. Second Kings nine.

So not only does he lose his life, but his sons lose their life. They have to, because if he dies, they get the inheritance. They all have to die too. So the king then can take the field. And so everybody dies in his family because he stood on his convictions. He let the word of the Lord govern his decision. The question is, do you do that? Is that the kind of person you are? Are you the kind of person that, that will weigh the situation and decide what's going to happen We find all the time people slowly but surely learning to compromise the word of God for their own benefit.

What suits them? What's best for them instead of what does God say? Because in reality, that's what's best all the way around. Well, would it be that God's word would guide everything that we do throughout the day? It would guide every decision that we made, every plan that we planned, everything that we did, God's word would govern us. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 66, verse number two, to this man will I look to him who is broken and of a contrite heart, who trembles at my word.

Naboth would tremble at the word of the Lord, more so than the word of the king, because he knew what God's word said. And he would not bow to the king's temptation. Now you think about that. Most of us will compromise without ever a king asking us to do anything. Maybe it's our friend, maybe it's our neighbor. And because it benefits us physically or financially, we can turn the other way sometimes and go ahead and compromise because of what it benefits me. Naboth was not that kind of person. He let the word of the Lord guide every decision that he made.

The Bible tells us these words, Psalm 43, Psalm 43, verse number three, oh, send out your light and your truth.

Let them lead me. That should be the cry of every believer. Send forth your light, send forth your truth. Lord, let that lead me. Let that be the governing factor in all that I say and all that I do. Over in Psalm 119, verse number 33, teach me, oh Lord, the way of your statutes and I shall observe it to the end. Give me an understanding that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of your commandments for I delight in it. Make me walk in the path of your commandments, Lord.

That's what the Psalmist said. He would go on and say these words, that your word is the lamp to my feet and your light to my path. He said in verse 110 of Psalm 119, the wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I have not gone astray from your precepts. I have inherited your testimonies forever for they are the joy of my heart. I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes forever, even to the very end. And of course it was Solomon who said, my son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you. They'll give you direction. When you sleep, they will watch over you. They will give you protection. And when you awake, they will talk to you. They will give you a conversation. For the commandment is the lamp and the teaching is light. They will give you an illumination and reproofs for discipline are the way of life. In other words, God's word is designed to guide us throughout life, help us make wise choices, make wise decisions.

But there are so many times we are willing to compromise when we don't have to. We never should compromise. But we think that sometimes if it benefits me, it's going to be okay. It's not. And when you compromise just a little bit, it begins to become more habit forming for you. And soon you become very easy, just putting God's word aside, not even thinking about what God's word says and just do your own thing. Naboth was not that kind of person. He was a man who when faced with temptation, when faced with the opportunity to have more money, more than he's ever had before, maybe even a nicer vineyard than he had at that point, turned it all away because God said, you can't do that.

Wow. How many of us would be that kind of person? I would pray that every one of us would stand strong in convictions, that we'd have them. But so many times when a friend asks us to do something or go someplace, someplace that we might be concerned about where that place is or ask us to do something so easily, we are willing to compromise the truth of God's word to maintain a friendship, to maintain a relationship and yet forfeit the intimacy we have with the living God. Isaac Watts said these words years ago when he recorded this, blessed are the undefiled in heart, whose ways are right and clean, who never from the law depart, but fly from every sin.

Blessed are the men who keep thy word and practice thy commands with their whole heart. They seek the Lord and serve thee with their hands. Great is their peace who love thy law, how firm their souls abide, nor can a bold temptation draw their steady feet aside. Then shall my heart have inward joy and keep my face from shame when all thy statutes I obey and honor all thy name. We can never afford to compromise the truth. We live in a society where it's going to become more and more difficult to stand strong because the laws of the land are going to change and as they change, you're going to have to make a decision.

Are you going to be ashamed of the gospel or stand strong on the gospel? What will be heard from your lips when people come out and speak against your faith and against your God? What will you say? Will you stand strong? Would you be willing to lose a job because you will not compromise your convictions on the word of God? Nabal's going to lose his life. His sons are going to lose their lives because their dad will not back down. That's the kind of man we need in the church. That's the kind of man we need in our families who stand strong with the convictions like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who knew they'd be thrown to the fiery furnace, but they would not back down.

They had convictions. They would not bow down. They would not compromise and they were willing to die instead of compromise the truth of God's word. So was Daniel. He was willing to stand strong and willing to lose his life because he would not compromise the truth of God's word. Joseph was another man who would not compromise when Potiphar's wife came after him and said, lie with me. He would not, even though no one would know. He fled. He ran because he knew his God would know and he was even thrown into prison for something he never did, but he would not compromise.

How about you? What kind of person are you? Nabal says, the Lord forbids me to do this. If your young girl and your young friend, your fellow boyfriend says, lie with me, sleep with me, what will you say? Will you stand strong and say, the Lord forbids me to do that? I will not compromise the word of the Lord and risk losing the relationship. Will you stand strong enough to be able to stand against that boyfriend or against that girlfriend if you're a guy? Will you compromise your purity for just a brief moment of pleasure?

Will you compromise your testimony? Will you compromise your integrity? Will you compromise everything just for a moment of pleasure? But so many times it happens. Nabal, the Lord forbids me. I will not do it. So Ahab goes home and Ahab becomes very sullen and despondent. He lays on his bed and he will not eat. This is the king of Israel. Okay. The king of Israel. He's a covetous man. He wants something. He can't have it. He doesn't know how to obtain it yet, but he goes home and begins to weep and be sullen and despondent and sad because he could not get what he so desperately wanted.

Enter Jezebel. Enter his wife who really is his mother because she's going to take care of her husband. She sees them all sullen. She sees them all despondent. She says, now, now, aren't you not the king of Israel? Aren't you not the king of Israel? I, your wife and mother, will take care of this for you, dear. I'll handle this for you. Don't worry about it. I will take care of it. Here was Ahab who married someone who would take care of him. And that's exactly what Jezebel did. Her whole life was about taking care of her husband and stepping in and doing for him when he was unable to do for himself.

So now you come to Jezebel's plot and she, she connives the whole scene. She sets up everything. She sends out letters in the king's name. Now Ahab doesn't know this and he uses the, she uses the king's seal and she sends it to the nobles of the city. And what she does is convince them to bring Naboth to this feast. And what they're going to do is bring in two men, two evil men who will slander him. And she knows that according to the law of the Lord, you have to have two witnesses. So not just one, but two.

They will both say the same story. They will sit next to Naboth and they will say that he blasphemed the king and he blasphemed God. And of course, stoning is always the result for blasphemy. And so these nobles of the city take her advice. They carry out her plan. Everything works like clockwork. And all of a sudden Naboth is dead. Now think about that. And the question always comes, oh, wait a minute. How come, how come this man stands true, stands on the convictions of the word of God, does not compromise and God lets him die.

Why would God do that? Why would God not intervene? Why would God not step in? Why would God let the evil acts of Ahab and Jezebel continue on and not step in? And then his sons, they're stoned as well. Why doesn't God step in and do something? How come he didn't stop this? Why does he let this evil continue? And that's a legitimate question, but you've got to remember God delights in the death of his own. He does. Precious in the sight of the Lord are the death of his saints. The flip side of that is this.

Listen carefully. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but God delights in the death of his own because it's precious than a sight. Not only does God delight in it, God designs it. God designs it. It's appointed to man who wants to die. After that, the judgment wasn't news to God that Naboth would be stoned. No. His death was a divine appointment. Remember Revelation 1, 17 and 18, God holds the keys to death in Hades. He's in complete charge of who dies, when they die, and how they die.

So God knows all this. So God not only delights in the death of his own, not only has God designed the death of his own, but God even desires the death of his own because he prepares a place for them in glory. And if they die, he wants them home with him. Except, but wait a minute. Why let him be stoned? Remember Matthew chapter 5, verses 10, 11, and 12, when the Lord says this, when you live a righteous life, blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me, rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great for the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. So Christ says, listen, as I begin to preach a sermon, this greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever lived about what it means to have the blessed life, you've got to know that if you live this life, you're going to be persecuted, but blessed are you because there have been many who have gone before you who have been persecuted and died, but your reward in heaven is great, which would cause Peter to say these words in first Peter chapter 4, verse number 12, when he said, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing as though some strange thing were happening to you, but to the degree that you share the suffering of Christ, keep on rejoicing.

So also that at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exaltation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or thief or evil doer or troublesome meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but it's to glorify God in this name for it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God. And if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome of those who don't obey the gospel of God?

And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the Godless man and the sinner? Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator and doing what is right. If you read the book of revelation, John is on the isle of Patmos in revelation chapter one, and the Bible tells us why he's there because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. And listen, when you come to revelation chapter six, it says, when the lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar, the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained.

So John has a vision of heaven and he sees the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because the testimony of Jesus. And they cried out with a loud voice saying, how long, oh Lord, holy and true will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth. And there was given to each of them a white robe and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed, even as they had been would be completed also.

So the Lord God says, listen, I know that you're anxious for me to go down and set up my kingdom, but there's more who have to die just like you died.

How did they die? Revelation 20, their heads were chopped off. So they died. There are more who have to have their heads chopped off. So until all the heads that are chopped off of the people that I have designed to have chopped off heads, I'm not going back yet because God has a plan and God has a plan for each of his own. So here is Naboth, a man who stood strong on his convictions based on the word of God. And because he did, he died. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they lived. Daniel, he lived.

Joseph, he lived. Naboth, he dies. He stoned. But God was not surprised by that. God had a plan. Remember, God always delights in the death of his own, but he never delights in the death of the wicked, Ezekiel 18, Ezekiel chapter 33. Never does. Why? Because he is a long-suffering God. He is a merciful God. He is a patient God. And he gives the wicked every opportunity to repent. He gives the wicked every opportunity to receive his mercy. He gives the wicked all the time they need. But his patience does run out.

It does. And that's why he sends Elijah, because Elijah has to confront Ahab. Now, this is good because Elijah is back in Jezreel. Last time he was in Jezreel, somewhere between two and five years ago, he ran because he feared what Jezebel might do to him. But all of a sudden, now there is no fear. He doesn't know, Elijah, that he's not going to die. He doesn't know that he's going to be whisked off to heaven in a whirlwind, and he will become emblematic of all those believers in the future who will be whisked off to heaven in the wrath of the church.

Doesn't even know that. But now there's no fear. There's no vacillating. There's no holding back. It's been a while, but there's been a change in Elijah. He's no longer afraid of the decree that Jezebel's put out there. In fact, you could say he's even willing to die. He's willing to put it all on the line now.

He's already ran. He's already hid. He's been gone, and God has brought him back. God has restored him. God is still going to use him. So the word of the Lord comes to him. Tells us in 1 Kings chapter 21, these words, 1 Kings 21, verse 17, then the word of the Lord came to Elijah and said, Arise, go down to meet the king of Israel who's in Samaria. Behold, he's in the vineyard of Naboth where he has gone down to take possession of it. And you're going to tell him exactly what I want you to tell him.

He does. He goes to him and very simply and succinctly states to him, guess what? You have sinned. You are going to die. God's going to kill you. I'm giving you ample warning. It's going to happen. He tells him very simply, have you murdered and also taken possession? And you shall speak to him saying, that says the Lord in the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours. Hey, I've said to Elijah, have you found me? Oh, my enemy. Listen, Elijah wasn't his enemy.

Elijah was his friend. Elijah was his friend. Elijah tried to warn him. Elijah had him on top of Mount Carmel some five years ago. Elijah tried to help him understand that the Lord God of Israel was the one true God. Elijah loved him enough to confront him on a sin. See, nobody else did. So he goes to him and confronts him. And Ahab says, you found me. My enemy has found me. No, God knew exactly where you were all the time. God sent me here to tell you exactly what's going to happen. You're going to die.

It's time. And Elijah has to hear, I mean, Ahab has to hear about how he's going to die and how his wife's going to die. You see, we forget that so many times we look at the wicked and we wonder why it is they succeed and nothing happens to them.

While we try to live the righteous life, the holy life, the Godlike life and all kinds of evil happens to us. But the wicked, they seem to go as if they've been unscathed. Psalmist in Psalm 73 said something like that. He said in verse number one, surely God is good to Israel to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling. My steps had almost slipped. I believe in God. God's good to Israel. But you know what? I almost stumbled. I almost slipped. Why? For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Someone says that bothered me. That bothered me tremendously. The wicked seem to prosper and they do it with arrogance. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they played like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace. The garment of violence covers them.

Vanity and violence is what covers the wicked and nothing seems to happen to them. Their eye bulges from fatness. The imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock and weakly speak of oppression. They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue parades through the earth. Therefore his people returned to this place and waters of abundance are drunk by them. They say, how does God know? And is their knowledge with the most high? They mock God because nothing's happened to them and they've gone on in vanity and violence and there's been no consequences.

So does God really know? Is there really a God? Bill, these are the wicked and always at ease, they have increased in wealth. They blaspheme God and they still increase with wealth. Surely in vain I've kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence for I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning and they get off scot-free. If I had said I will speak thus behold I would have betrayed the generation of your children. When I pondered to understand this it was troublesome in my sight.

You've been there. We've all been there. Lord, the wicked seem to increase. They seem to flourish. They seem to succeed and they blaspheme the name of God and nothing is happening to them. It's as if that you've let them go on a free ride and I try to wash my hands and keep my heart clean and do the right thing and yet I'm chastened all the day long. Now listen to this. I pondered to understand this. It was troublesome in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God. Then I perceived their end.

In other words, modern day language, I went to church, heard the word, and then I got it. Then I understood. But until I went to the sanctuary of God, I could not perceive their end. I could not understand what was happening. I could not grasp it in my own understanding. But when I went and received perspective in the sanctuary of God, when I received God's perspective that I knew, then I got it. Verse 18, surely you set them in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment.

They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors like a dream when one awakes. Oh Lord, when aroused, you will despise. Therefore, he began to understand that God was doing something only he could do. Remember what the Bible says in Proverbs 29, verse number one, a man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.

Proverbs chapter six, verse number 12, says this, a worthless person, a wicked man is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who points with his fingers, who with perversity in his heart, continually devises evil, who spreads strife. Therefore, his calamity will come suddenly, instantly, he will be broken and there will be no healing. There's going to come a time when the man who is wicked will be broken beyond remedy. There will be a time when God intervenes and God steps in and says, you know what?

My patience is done. I've been long suffering enough. It came in the days of Noah and Noah would preach for 120 years and God said, that's it. It came in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah and God said, that's it, they're destroyed. It came for the time for Herod the king in Acts chapter 12, when he would ascend the throne and listen to the yells of the people. He's not a man, he's a God and God set him down and ate him with worms. He died right there in the amphitheater in Caesarea Maritima. There's a time where God says, that's it.

And for Ahab and Jezebel, their time of reigning in Israel is coming to an end. It's over and God in his graciousness grants them the opportunity to turn from their wicked ways. He tells them, this is how you're going to die. This is what's going to happen to you. You will die a horrible death. So why is it God lets it go so long? Solomon says this in Ecclesiastes 8.11, because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly. Therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.

When a man sins and he's not executed immediately, it allows people to continue living in sin and evil just abounds. And God in his patience and suffering and mercy and love allows man to continue because he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Those are his words, not my words. And so God continually allows an opportunity for Ahab, the king of Israel to turn. He has seen the miraculous on Mount Carmel. He's been confronted by Elijah, the prophet of God, and yet he has not turned. If he does not turn after reproof, he will be broken beyond remedy.

Proverbs 29.1. And so he comes to him, Elijah does, and tells him that not only will he die, but all of his sons will die. His sin will devastate his family. His sin will devastate his legacy. Everybody will die. And his wife, she too will die. And God tells him very clearly that there was no one more wicked in the history of Israel up to that point than Ahab. But note this, when Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went about despondently.

This man was broken. He was broken. And so God says to Elijah, do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before me?

Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son's days. It won't be till later on. I'm going to allow him to live. Again, God goes overboard with forgiveness. God goes overboard with grace. God goes overboard with mercy. He just lavishes it upon this wicked man. And if I'm Elijah, I'm saying, you're kidding me, right Lord? You're going to let him live? And God does. Oh, he will die. He will die exactly as God said he's going to die.

And the dogs did lick the blood off of his chariot, as the Lord God said. And Jezebel, yeah, she died. In fact, 2 Kings 9 tells us that when she died and she was run over by Jehu's chariot, that he went inside and the dogs came and ate everything except her skull and her hands, just like God said. But God gave them the opportunity to repent. Jezebel would know, Ahab would know, this is the word of the Lord. And Ahab knows that Elijah is prophet of God. And Ahab knows Elijah said, no rain. There was no rain.

Elijah said, fire come down. Fire came down. Elijah said, let there be rain. There was rain. So he knows that when Elijah speaks, it's going to be the truth. So Elijah says, you're going to die. Ahab says, oh no, I don't want to die. I don't want to die. He was remorseful. He was broken. But was he truly repentant? No, because repentance deals with the condition of the soul. Remorse deals with the consequences of sin. There's a difference. Remorse happens because there's a consequence for my sin.

And I am remorseful over that. Repentance is the way it is because of the condition of my soul, that I am a sinner and I'm separated from God and I need to turn from my wicked ways. Ahab never turned from his wicked ways. Oh, he was saddened because he was going to die. Like anybody would be saddened when they would be told you're going to die. And this is how you're going to die. They would be broken, but there was no true repentance. But God, in spite of that, allowed him to live until the time came where he and his sons would all be slain.

And he would die in his sin. But God was merciful. God gave him every chance, gave Jezebel every opportunity to turn from her sin. But they did not. And Naboth, one heroic act of standing the truth, loses his life immediately. But he stands in the annals of scripture as one who would not compromise and would be going to lose his life because of his convictions on the truth of God's word. This is a great story for all of us to learn from. All of us need to realize that compromise is never an option for us.

We're to stand strong on our convictions, even if it costs us our life. Even if we lose whatever it is we want to hold on to, we lose it, but we never lose our integrity. We never compromise that because God's word is true. And God himself, whenever you read the scripture, don't you understand more about God? How long suffering and merciful and kind and generous he is to the wicked evil people of this land. We should never rejoice when the wicked man dies. Because if God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, why should we?

Because they go into a crisis eternity, eternally separated from the living God. And so we should always pray for their true repentance. They would give their life to the Lord Jesus. This story tells us more about God than it ever does about Elijah. Elijah is a spokesperson for God. He just stands strong for God. He speaks for God. But now he's not afraid to speak. Now he stands strong against Ahab once again. And now he doesn't stutter, speaks with conviction, tells him you're gonna die. Your wife, she's gonna die.

And let me tell you how you're gonna die. He tells him, never bats an eye. And yet God is graceful to both Jezebel and Ahab and continues to let them live for months and years before he enacts his judgment, just to give them another opportunity to repent. But Naboth, he's home with the Lord. He is home in heaven receiving his reward because he would not compromise. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for your word. It's so good to be able to understand what it is you're doing through Elijah the prophet, through a man like Naboth that is briefly mentioned in scripture, but I'm sure has been greatly rewarded in glory. And we thank you, Lord, that we can read the narrative, understand you. And our prayer truly is for the wicked around us who seem to always prosper and never face the consequences of the sin. But it's a reminder that you are graceful and kind and merciful and loving.

And because you take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, you give them every chance, every opportunity to repent and to fall before you and to turn from their wicked ways. And our prayer is that that's what would happen and that we would stand true as your children, never compromising the convictions that we have that are based on the authority of your word, that you'd be pleased with us as individuals, as a church, stand strong and never compromise for the glory of your kingdom. In Jesus name.

Amen.